Federal Reading List for Week of June 31, 2023

This is the Federal Reading List, a group of odds and ends that we want to at least let the public know about.

The best way to reform prisons is to reduce their populations (Washington Post Opinion)

A former incarcerated person offers a solution.

The bureau should also fulfill its legal obligation to fully implement the First Step Act. People remain in prison longer than necessary because the agency is failing to provide adequate programming for people to earn time credits and is calculating credits incorrectly.

Rehab on hold: COVID devastated prison learning programs (Associated Press)

“People weren’t prepared for this,” said Oscar Martinez, a resident of Valley State Prison. “I believe it created a lot of trauma for people, on top of the trauma they already had. The cell that you have in your mind, when you start suffocating in there, it’s just like cage after cage after cage.”

It’s hard to overstate the positive impact of educational and skills training on prisoner rehabilitation, said Margaret diZerega, who directs the Vera Institute of Justice’s Unlocking Potential initiative, which is focused on expanding college in prison. Given that 90% of people who are incarcerated in the U.S. will return to their communities, prisoner access to rehabilitative programming should matter to everyone, she said.

“We know from the research that these kinds of programs reduce recidivism rates. They improve safety in the prisons, there are fewer violent incidents, which is positive for the staff who work at the prisons and for the people who live in the prisons,” diZerega said.

Others:

Morningstar, Kim Kardashian shouldn't need to cover someone's rent because their criminal record barred them from work or housing — but here's why she did

Al Jazeera, Solitary confinement is still widespread in US prisons and jailsT

The Hill, Bipartisan senators introduce bill to increase federal prison oversight